Lonely Souls:
by ShockBlankets
Summary: Eddi's struggling to cope with Luc's dissapearance, and her rollercoaster of a life certainly isn't making things any easier for her.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"£2.70 please."

The barman placed the glass of whiskey on the counter in front of Eddi. She could barely see it, or him for that matter. Reaching into her bag, she discovered that her purse was empty. She made her slurred apologies to the disgruntled barman who tutted and muttered something about useless time wasters.

_A time waster._

That's exactly what she was, Eddi thought to herself. She may have even said it aloud she was so plastered. Ever since the disappearance of that blasted caravan, all she seemed to be able to do with her time was waste it.

And surely there was no better way to do so than by actually _getting wasted_. Judging by the amount of money she had spent in the last few hours, it seemed as if that box was ticked. Now she just had to find her way back home.

The music of the club was blaring, if you could even call it music. It was just noise. Everything was just noise. The neon lights were so bright that they almost blinded her, their incandescent garishness taunting her, daring her to pull another all night booze bender.

'Taxi!' She yelled as she stumbled out of the club doors. About a dozen other people were hanging about. Some were also waiting for cabs, some were smoking, others were chatting and laughing with their mates. There was light in their eyes, hope in their faces. Eddi remembered a brief time when she had felt like that.

"Eddi? Is that you?" Called a familiar voice.

"Oh no." Eddi thought to herself as she spotted the cheerful smile of Chantelle coming towards her. It wasn't that she didn't like her; she was a decent girl, and a laugh to work with, but what she really didn't need right now was a familiar face, and pity. Especially pity which came in the angelic and ever well meaning form of Nurse Lane.

"Are you alright?" Chantelle's usually happy expression was darkened with concern.

"Oi, Chantelle, what's up?" One of her friends in the large group she had left behind shouted.

"Nothing, give me a minute." She yelled back. "Eddi, you don't look too good."

"Thanks."

"No, I mean, are you okay? I think you'd better be getting home, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah." Eddi looked up to face the nurse. "I'm just gonna get a taxi now." She staggered towards the taxi rank, Chantelle just catching her before she fell to the ground.

"Woah, steady!" She exclaimed. "You'll never get yourself home safe like that. Are you by yourself?" She looked around to see if there were any friends of Eddi's around, and suddenly realised what she had said. Eddi looked at her _'are you by yourself?'_, what a stupid question. Chantelle knew. Sacha knew. Henrik Hanssen probably knew. The whole world knew that Eddi was _by herself_

"I - I'm sorry, Eddi, I didn't mean to-"

"Doesn't matter." Eddi slurred. "I don't care. I just wanna get home, so just go. Your friends are waiting for you." Chantelle glanced in the direction of her mates, torn.

"Hang on, wait here a sec." She directed Eddi towards a wall to perch on and ran over to the mass of people she had left.

"Okay, come on, let's get you home." She returned a few moments later.

"What? What are you on about?"

"I'm taking you home. Well, to my house. I don't want to leave you…_alone_ while you're like this." She smiled the least patronising smile she could manage. She was worried about Eddi. God knows what could happen to her if she was left to get home by herself in the state she was in.

"What? I don't need to go to your house, what about your friends? This is unneces-"

"Shh!" Chantelle silenced her and bundled her into the back of the cab.

The journey took about fifteen minutes, during which Eddi fell asleep. Chantelle gazed out at the surroundings, a million thoughts running through her mind. Her and Eddi weren't particularly close, but she had been there for her when she had first joined AAU. She was a brilliant nurse, and underneath the tough exterior, she was sure, a brilliant person. She hated to see anyone upset, and it broke her heart to see Eddi like this. There had to be something she could do to help her, this couldn't go on. What was she going to do? How could she help Eddi?

As she looked up to the stars twinkling away in the darkness, her mind turned to the most important question;

_Where on Earth are you, Luc Hemmingway?_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The scent of freshly made coffee finally brought Eddi to her senses. The morning sunlight had just started creeping through the curtains and she found herself on a sofa; for a moment, she didn't have a clue where she was, until the alarming levels of pink reminded her whose house she was in.

Her head was pounding, her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten anything for almost twenty four hours. Slowly, she made her way to the kitchen, where she found a pot of hot coffee on the counter, and two slices of bread waiting to be put into the toaster. There was also a note, which read;

_Hi Eddi. Hope you're feeling a bit better this morning. I'm starting work at nine today so I'll probably be gone by the time you wake up. Lleucu's's got a week off so she's gone down to Wales, in case you were wondering where she is. I've left you some coffee and there's some bread for you to make yourself some toast. I don't know if you're working today, let me know if you need me to cover for you. Chantelle x_

Eddi smiled reluctantly at the note. Why was she being so kind? Eddi had never been kind to her. She had never been kind to anyone. She found that that was the best way to do things. The clock on the wall told her that it was almost nine o'clock. Eddi's shift was supposed to start at four. If she could survive until then, that was. She ate her breakfast slowly, trying not to throw up, and then frantically began to search her bag for a paracetamol. She was in luck, and the hangover soon began to ease. Unfortunatley, she still had no money. She didn't even know if she had any at home.

'What a mess.' She thought to herself.

After an hour or two of sitting around trying to think, and at the same time trying not to think, she decided to face daylight and try and get home. She wasn't entirely sure where exactly Chantelle's house was, and how far it was from her house. But she couldn't afford a cab or a bus so she had no choice. Scribbling a note and leaving it on the kitchen table, she picked up her bag and left.

Time seemed to be going ever so slowly on Keller Ward. There was virtually nothing to do, and hardly anyone to talk to. Not that Chantelle was in the mood for talking, for a change. She was still confused and conflicted about last night. Any attempt to help Eddi would be rejected, but surely she couldn't't just stand back and watch her destroy herself? As the clock signalled her lunch break, Chantelle realised, reluctantly, that there was only one man who could help her in this predicament she had found herself in.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

It had started to rain practically the moment Eddi had walked out the door. Typical, she thought to herself. But she didn't care. Others frenziedly put up their umbrellas and tried to run through the showers, but Eddi just continued strolling along. It didn't matter.

The walk was surprisingly long, and Eddi thought she was lost at one stage. Eventually she made it to her front door, and was greeted by yet another pile of bills that she would continue to ignore. She jumped in the shower and made herself another cup of coffee. The hangover was definitely gone, but the memories weren't.

"Come in." Sacha called, upon hearing the knock on his office door. It was unusual to find him in there, but the ward was relatively quiet and he had paperwork that he just couldn't put off any longer. He was surprised when he looked up and saw a timid looking Nurse Lane enter the room.

"Hello Chantelle, what can I do for you?"

"Hi, Mr Levy. I was wondering if I could have a word?" She asked.

"Sure, have a seat." Sacha put his pen down, gratefully. "Is everything alright?"

Chantelle then went on to tell him about the events of last night. He was not especially surprised, he had known that Eddi was deeply troubled by Luc's disappearance.

"I mean, I know Eddi's always been…well, fond of a drink or two." Chantelle felt uncomfortable saying the words, as if she was condemning her friend. "But she had calmed down a bit, hadn't she? When Mr Hemmingway was around." Sacha nodded. Despite Luc's faults, Sacha had to admit that he had been good for her.

"And if she carries on at this rate, she'll kill herself." Chantelle interrupted Sacha's thoughts.

"I know, I know. Thank God you spotted her last night. It was very kind of you Chantelle." He replied. "Thanks for coming to see me, I'll see if I can have a word with Eddi when she arrives."

"Okay, thanks Mr Levy." Chantelle stood up to leave. "Only…you won't tell her I said anything will you?" Sacha sighed. That could be difficult.

"Of course not." He smiled.

It was about three o'clock when Eddi left for work. She was feeling marginally better, and had decided to stop thinking. Just stop. Don't think about _him, _and you'll be fine, she told herself. She was in no hurry to get to work; burst appendixes and tonsillectomies were not particularly high up on her most wanted list today, so she took the scenic route through the park. She took out her iPod and pressed play. The Clash; perfect, she thought to herself. A good guitar baseline was just what she needed.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" She shouted at the running hoodie that had just crashed into her. She swore under her breath and kept walking.

"Eddi?" She heard a voice, instantly recognisable.

_Oh no. Oh God no._

The kid had a rucksack. Scruffy clothes. Clearly running away from somewhere. Or something. In a way, he was a mirror image of herself. Which was not surprising really.

"Liam?" She stopped dead in the street. What was he doing here? He was supposed to be at home, in Leeds. He was supposed to be getting back to normal. Everything was supposed to be okay now.

Supposed to be. But it wasn't. Nothing was okay anymore.

"Come on, lets go get a coffee, shall we?" She sighed, as she prepared to hear the latest in a long line of disasters.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hellooo, thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story so far, it means a lot :)**__** I've put chapters 3 and 4 up today because I want to get this fic up to speed with what I've already posted on Tumblr, so I'll put chapter 5 up soonish :)**_

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Chapter Four

Eddi glanced at her watch impatiently as she waited in the MacDonald's queue. Why were there so many people there anyway? Probably trying to avoid the rain, she guessed. She barely had enough money to pay for this, but she could tell that Liam was starving, and she had hardly any food at home anyway, she thought to herself; assuming that her brother would persuade her to let him stay with her rather than face up to whatever it was he had done.

"Here you go, got you a portion of chips and a coffee." She sat down at the table. It was an odd combination, but his favourite.

"Thanks." He forced a smile. "You not having anything?"

Eddi shook her head dismissively.

"So go on, spill." She demanded.

"I got kicked out." He said, not daring to look up.

"I had guessed as much. What did you do this time?"

"Nothing!" Eddi glared at him. "Okay, okay so I might have…borrowed some money."

"You stole from mum? Is that what you're trying to say?"

"You sound almost relieved." He smiled sheepishly.

She had to admit that in a way, she was. She was glad that he hadn't done anything worse than steal a couple of quid from his mother. This could be sorted out fairly easily, she thought.

"How much was it?"

"Erm…five hundred."

"Five hundred pounds?" Eddi wasn't expecting that. "What the hell did you need five hundred pounds for?"

"One of my mates, he needed it." Liam stared into his coffee, ashamed.

"One of your mates needed five hundred pounds? One of those 'mates' that I thought I told you stay away from?" Eddi couldn't believe her ears. "Are you crazy?"

"Look, I'm sorry-"

"No, there's no point apologising to me, Liam, it's mum you need to be grovelling to."

Liam laughed and shook his head.

"No way, she won't hear me out. Just like you." Those words cut through Eddi like a knife. Maybe she should give him a chance; there could be an innocent explanation.

"Go on then, explain."

Now Liam didn't know what to say. He had spent all his energy on telling his mother and sister how unfair they were and that they should listen to him, and now that Eddi was listening, he knew he couldn't articulate a justifiable reason. Eddi stared at him, waiting.

"Unbelievable." She stood up and put on her coat, angry at herself for ever thinking that her brother was anything more than a lazy, selfish parasite.

"Wait, Eddi, please."

"No, I don't wanna hear your lies and excuses. I've been messed about enough." She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down. "You will never learn, will you? Those so called friends of yours, they're laughing at you, can't you see? You're just a stupid little kid, a kid who can get them money, money for God knows what."

Liam was stunned into silence. Eddi took one last look at him as she stormed out the door.

"What am I supposed to do now, then?" He ran after her.

"I don't know Liam, I don't care." She didn't turn to face him. "I'm late for work."

Sacha was analysing some x-rays at the nurses station. Well, that's what it looked like he was doing; he was in fact, facing internal turmoil as he tried to think of something he could say to Eddi to help her. She was a good friend of his, and he cared about her. He couldn't stand the thought of her turning into a cynical, alcohol dependent recluse. She was already fifteen minutes late for work, when suddenly Sacha saw her come barging in, a look of pure anger on her face. This was going to be much more difficult than he had hoped.

"Hi, Eddi." He attempted to start a conversation when he saw her alone at the nurses station.

"Alright." She replied, aloofly.

"How are things?" She put down her pen and looked up from her set of notes. Something in the tone of his voice alerted her that he had a hidden agenda.

"Did Chantelle say something to you?"

"Chantelle? No, no. What? Why would Chantelle say anything to me, I mean that's just-"

"She told you about last night?"

"Yes." Sacha sighed.

"It was a one off. Won't happen again." She looked back down at the notes. "And that's not why I was late today anyway so I dunno why it even matters."

"It does matter." Sacha pulled up a seat next to her. "So why were you late, out of interest?"

Eddi scowled. "Doesn't matter."

Sacha knew that now wasn't a good time, but he was determined not to give up on Nurse McKee, even if she already had.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five 

'_The person you have called is unavailable' _- The message kept saying on Liam's phone. He was going to have to stop trying to call her soon; the battery was dying.

'Unavailable' He thought to himself. That's Eddi alright, always unavailable. He put the phone back in his pocket and started walking towards the hospital; partially because he wanted to apologise properly to his sister, and partially because he literally had nowhere else to go.

How could he have been such an idiot? What on Earth had possessed him to get involved with those so called friends of his again? Why did he have to mess it all up _every time?_

Liam was so preoccupied with thoughts of his sister and his mother, and his pathetic excuse for a life in general, that he didn't notice the two men whose proximity to him had been increasing ever so slightly for the last few minutes. He also didn't notice that they were both extremely tall and muscular men. He certainly didn't notice that one of them had a knife in his coat pocket. Liam took out his phone again, hoping to get through to Eddi this time. He decided to take a shortcut through the subway, as it would be easier to talk her with no one around if she did decide to pick up. As he descended the steps into the subway, he finally observed that two men appeared to be following him. What was most alarming about the pair was the lack of any trace of emotion in their faces; their eyes were cold, their expressions set. They looked like the kind of people you wouldn't want to mess with. Liam pretended he hadn't seen them and quickened his pace. Risking a glance over his shoulder, he saw that the men were speeding up too. He knew what was coming - he had to get out.

With a sudden rush of adrenaline, Liam took off through the subway, his heart pounding in his ears like a drum. Why was this such a long subway, he thought, finding himself desperate to run faster than his legs could carry him. He tried to scream, but it was useless; the place was deserted. All of a sudden, the men had reached him; one put an enormous hand over Liam's mouth to silence his cries for help, the other began tearing apart his rucksack, looking for anything that might be of value. Liam kicked with all his might, and for just a fraction of a second, he was able to push his captor away. It wasn't enough though, and he was given a black eye for his trouble. He was pinned up against the wall, the attackers laughing as they punched and kicked him to shreds. Liam could feel his limbs giving up, his head felt like it was on fire. He just wanted to curl up and die.

"Just take…the rucksack. Take what you want. Please…just leave me alone." He tried to say, breathlessly, barely audible.

Finally, the muggers decided that enough was enough, and let Liam collapse to the floor in a heap. They grabbed the rucksack and left. Liam was in shock; what the hell had just happened? The two men were still in the subway, walking casually as if they hadn't a care in the world, when Liam looked up from the ground, his eyes scarcely able to see. He slowly began to stand up, and got a severe coughing fit as he did so, causing the thugs to turn back in disbelief. They had thought he was out for the count. In a sudden vicious frenzy, the smaller of the two men charged towards Liam, brandishing a knife. He didn't even bother to try and silence Liam's howls of pain. With a satisfied smile, he nodded to his associate, and they were gone in a flash.

It took a few moments for Liam to open his eyes realise what had happened. He held a hand up to his weary eyes and discovered that it was stained crimson with blood. It was then that the pain kicked in, a mixture of exhaustion and pure agony. The knife had penetrated Liam's stomach so deeply that it would almost have been a relief to die. With his last ounce of energy, he reached for his phone, surprised to see that it hadn't been taken. He contemplated calling an ambulance, but he was sure that he was about to die any minute anyway, so he decided to call Eddi instead. Perhaps he could make good use of these last few precious moments by apologising to her for all the damage he'd done. He pressed redial and was met with the same old greeting;

'_The person you have called is unavailable.'_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Eddi was sitting alone at a table in the hospital café. She was on her break, and sick of the AAU staffroom, she had decided to come downstairs for a change of scenery. The hospital café was an interesting place; a place where you could view every aspect of human emotions all at once, which fascinated Eddi. She could see hope, in the faces of recovering patients who had just been discharged, or relatives who had just received good news. There was anxiety too, from those waiting for test results, or for a loved one to come out of theatre. Love was also present, from mothers with their newborn babies, or the old man sitting with his wife, holding her hand and reassuring her that everything was going to be alright.

And then, of course, underlying it all, was sadness. Pure and simple sadness that couldn't be cured by any amount of medicine, hugs, or cups of coffee. It was an emotion that was inevitable in in a hospital, and was encountered everyday by staff and patients alike. But that didn't mean the effect of it was lessened. Eddi was deep in her philosophical thoughts when Chantelle came rushing towards her.

"Eddi! Eddi, come quick." She said, out of breath from running.

"What, what is it?" There must have been a major incident alert or something.

"It's your brother, I just saw him being taken into the ED."

"Oh my God." Eddi was momentarily frozen to the spot. She took her phone out of her pocket. It had been on silent.

_12 missed calls from Liam._

"Oh God." She said again, finding herself being dragged in the direction of the emergency department by Chantelle.

"I'm sure it's not as bad as it looked, he'll be fine." Chantelle lied, trying to calm Eddi down as they sat in the waiting area as they had been instructed to do.

"Why, what did it look like?" Eddi demanded. Chantelle immediately regretted her words.

"I saw an ambulance arriving…and your brother was on a trolley…"

"Yes, and?"

"There was a lot of blood."

"Was he conscious?

Chantelle looked to the floor, trying to avoid Eddi's glare. "Well, I wasn't really near enough, I mean I had just popped into the ED to-"

"Just tell me!" Eddi snapped.

"No. I don't think he was."

They sat in silence, until one of the doctors came over to speak to them.

"Hello, I'm Mr Jordan, clinical lead. You must be Liam's sister." He said, noticing Eddi's name badge.

"Is he okay? What happened? Can I see him?" Her questions came flooding out in a panic.

"I'm afraid you can't see him right now."

"But he's stable?"

"For the moment, yes. Your brother has suffered a deep stab wound."

"Stab wound?" Eddi repeated the words to herself, incredulously. How could this have happened? Just a few hours ago he was fine. "Jesus."

Mr Jordan cleared his throat. "We're going to be taking him up to AAU in a few minutes, he needs surgery."

"Will Sacha be doing it?"

"Mr Levy?" Mr Jordan checked his notes. "I believe so, yes."

"Okay, right." Eddi took a few deep breaths. "Okay, thank you Mr Jordan."

"Come on, let's get up to AAU." Chantelle guided Eddi to the doors.

"How could this have happened?"

"I don't know, Eddi." Chantelle felt out of her depth; she was usually good at comforting relatives, but this was different.

"You know he's in safe hands with Sacha."

"Yeah, I know." Eddi replied. She had faith in Sacha, but after this, she wasn't sure if she could keep faith in herself.

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**Thanks for reading, and for the lovely reviews this has been getting :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi guys, this is just a filler chapter so sorry if it's a bit short, 8 will be up soon!**

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Chapter Seven

Sacha was halfway through a muffin and steaming hot cup of tea with not nearly enough sugar in it, when he was informed about the stab wound victim being brought up to the ward for surgery.

'Poor kid.' He sighed, as the nurse handed him the patient's notes.

_Name: Liam Mckee_, the words jumped out at Sacha and knocked him for six. What was Liam even doing in the area? How had he managed to get himself stabbed? How the heck was Eddi going to cope with this on top of everything else?

Sacha only had a few moments before Liam was brought up to prepare himself for surgery. He should have been heading to theatre. He should have been getting into his scrubs. He should have been acting as a professional medic. But right now, he had something more important to do than be a doctor; _he had to be a friend._

Hurriedly making his way to the deserted staff room, he took out his mobile and dialled a number that he had not seen for what seemed like a very long time.

Ring…ring…ring, the monotonous tone blared like an omen of failure.

'Come on, come on'. Sacha muttered impatiently, as the impatient nurse walked into the room, interrupting his thoughts.

"Mr Levy, we're ready now.'


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

'_You have one new message_' - The alert startled Luc awake. Rubbing his eyes sleepily, he picked up the phone, reluctantly

'_Hi Luc, it's Sacha here. I know you told me not to contact you, and don't worry, I haven't said anything, but I really think you need to come back to Holby. Liam's just been brought in, he's in a bad way…well, he's been stabbed, and Eddi's all over the place. Well, I mean she's already all over the place anyway, but now this…she needs you Luc, she really does. I have to go to theatre now but please Luc, for God's sake, just come back.'_

Luc sat in shock for a few moments, letting the news sink in, and half wishing that he had just deleted the message instead of listening to it. Liam stabbed? How the hell had that happened? Eddi would be beside herself. That's if she wasn't already.

'What does he expect me do to?' Luc began talking aloud. 'He's a surgeon, he can fix Liam and he can look after Eddi. They don't need me.' Luc was sure he was right, why would they need him? He had never been needed by anybody, except fleeting patients. He felt sure that if there was one thing a person didn't need in their life, it was Luc Hemmingway.

He threw the phone at the wall in frustration, and put his head in his hands, torn. It wasn't that he didn't care about Liam, he was a good kid. And Eddi, well, the less said about her the better. He couldn't afford to think about that kind of thing. Not anymore. Emotions, one of the many downsides of the human condition, he thought to himself as he made some coffee in an attempt to get his head straight.

Sacha had sounded pretty desperate on the phone. He had been given strict orders not to disturb Luc under any circumstances. What if Liam died? Luc couldn't just leave Eddi by herself then could he? Would he be able to deal with that guilt as well? He wasn't even sure he had a choice. That day when Eddi had given him a set of keys to her flat had been the decider. Keys; a symbol of Luc's greatest fear, commitment. And commitment meant empty promises and heartbreak, so what was the point of it all?

He hadn't expected to feel such turmoil; that day when he drove his beloved little caravan off into the sunset he had thought that that was it, the end.

So why did he feel compelled to return?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Liam was already in theatre by the time Eddi had got up to AAU. It was going to be a lengthy operation; he had been badly wounded, and although her colleagues were hesitant to say it, Eddi knew that there was a strong possibility that he might not make it. She sat waiting in the relatives room, a strange feeling for a nurse who was so used to passing that room every day. It gave her a fresh appreciation of what it must be like to know that your loved one's life is hanging in the balance, while you can do nothing but put your trust into the skilled hands of the surgeons. Chantelle had stayed with Eddi for a while, but her presence soon proved to be more of a hindrance than a help; despite her good intentions and endless supply of tea and biscuits. Sitting alone in what suddenly appeared to be a very large empty room, guilt forced her to repeatedly look at her phone. Why had Liam called her so many times? Could she have helped him? Maybe she would have been able to prevent all this, if only she had swallowed her pride and stopped to listen.

But she was Eddi, that was never going to happen. She would continue to screw it all up and do everything wrong; it was an inevitability.

She had been waiting for about an hour when she heard footsteps outside the door. Oh God, she thought, this was it; they were coming to give her the bad news. She wondered who had been sent to do it; it was a job that all doctors and nurses absolutely dreaded, no matter how much of a brave face they put on. Steeling herself, she brushed her hair out of her face and sat up straight. Yet nothing could have prepared her for the figure she saw standing in the doorway when she looked up.

"Hello, Eddi'." He said, in the calm and ever professional tone that defined Luc Hemmingway.

'Jesus!' Eddi exclaimed, nearly jumping out of her skin as if she had seen a ghost.

'No, not quite." He suppressed a vaguely smug smile, knowing that it was neither the time nor the place. Daring to take advantage of her silence, he sat down next to Eddi.

'What are you….what are you doing here?' She stammered. She had expected to be furious if she ever saw him again; she had vowed that she was going to kill him on several occasions, but here she was, speechless. Luc looked to the floor, taking a deep breath.

'Sacha called me. Well, he left me a message.'

'I've left you messages.' Eddi said, barely audible, hurt by the thought that he was willing to listen to Sacha, but not her.

'He told me about Liam.' Luc continued. 'Is he okay? He immediately regretted asking such a stupid question.

'Oh yeah, he's absolutely fine.' Eddi suddenly stood up, exploding into a fit of rage. 'He's been stabbed and he's suffered severe blood loss, and he's currently lying upstairs being cut open by your pal Sacha, but apart from all that, everything is fine and dandy!' Her words were soaked in satirical venom, and Luc was quite taken aback. He had almost forgotten how fiery she was.

Walking over to the window so she wouldn't have to look at him, Eddi decided to address the elephant in the room.

'Where did you go, Luc? What happened to you?'

'I went…away.'

'Yeah, I did notice.' She replied, with more than a subtle hint of bitterness.

'I had no choice, Eddi, I-' He began to speak, but was cut off.

'You had no choice?' She folded her arms defensively and turned to face him. 'There is no such thing as not having a choice. Maybe you did have to go away, and you didn't have to tell me why if you didn't want to, but to just up sticks like that all of a sudden? Did I not deserve at least a text or a call to say you were _alive_?' The words had a new poignancy for Eddi now.

There was an icy silence for a few moments, which seemed to last centuries.

'I'm sorry.' Luc finally managed to say.

'Is that all? I don't get any kind of explanation?'

'I can't tell you, Eddi. Not now anyway.'

'Why, what's the big secret? Is there another woman? So what, I don't care anymore.'

'No, it's not like that.'

'No?' Eddi stared into his eyes, searching for clues.

'Eddi, I came back because I heard what had happened to Liam and I wanted to…to be there for you.' Luc tried to change the subject.

'You wanted to be there for me?' Eddi laughed sarcastically. 'Well it's a bit late for that!'

'Eddi, please, you should be thinking of Liam, not me.'

'That's what I was doing, until you showed up. You can't just arrive back all of a sudden and expect everything to be normal again.'

For the first time in his life, Luc really didn't know what to do for the best. She was right, of course, she did deserve an explanation, and maybe it was wrong of him to just turn up like this when she was already facing a crisis. She didn't need Luc to add to her worries. He was facing a real dilemma; should he try and pacify her at least until the operation was over, or should he just tell her the truth? Looking into her deep brown eyes, he suddenly came to a decision.

'Eddi, I'm dying.'


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi guys, I felt bad about leaving you with that horrible cliffhanger yesterday (now I know how Steven Moffat feels) so here's a little filler chapter before things get...serious again. Thanks for reading :)**

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Chapter Ten

The prospect of performing surgery on Liam McKee had been, at the very least, daunting. The same could be said before any operation, but knowing that he held the power to save this man's life in his hands, this vulnerable young man, who also happened to be a brother of one of his closest friends, was extremely nerve-wracking.

The operation seemed to be going well so far, Sacha had a brilliant team behind him and he knew that they were all doing their best to ensure that the surgery would be a success. However, Sacha's mind soon began to wander to thoughts of Luc and Eddi. Had Luc received his message? Would he return to Holby? He thought of how Eddi must be feeling, this incident was certainly not what she needed. Well, having your brother almost stabbed to death was not what anyone needed, but what with Eddi's already troubled state of mind, Sacha wasn't sure that she would be able to cope with this trauma as well. He shook his head to focus his mind back on the job at hand. They were getting there, but there was still a long way to go before Liam was back causing mischief in his usual lovable manner.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Eddi was frozen to the spot, shocked and confused by this new revelation. She wasn't sure whether or not to believe him; she thought that surely he wouldn't make up something like that, but, then again, the closer she got to Luc, the less she felt she truly knew him.

'What are you talking about?' She said, clumsily.

'I said I'm dying.'

'Yeah, I heard you, but….' Eddi trailed off.

'I didn't want to tell you.' Luc sighed.

'How can you be _dying_, Luc?.' She said, shaking her head incredulously, still hoping that it was a lie.

'I've got Hodgkin's disease. It's terminal.' Said Luc, matter-of-factly.

Eddi suddenly wished that the ground would just swallow her up. Of the two people she cared about most in the whole world, one was in surgery after a sever stab wound which he might never fully recover from, and the other had just waltzed back into her life, only to tell her that he wouldn't be staying in it for much longer. How was she supposed to respond to that? How was Eddi, the hard, tough as nails nurse, famous for her confidence and harsh put downs, supposed to deal with this?

''I….I-' Eddi began to say, but was stopped by the sudden stream of silent tears falling on to her cheeks. Luc gingerly embraced her, feeling an equal speechlessness. He hadn't told anyone yet, except for Sacha when he had asked him to keep an eye on Eddi before he left, he thought, recalling the conversation.

'_Why, where are you going, Luc?'_

'_That doesn't matter, I'm just asking you to look after her.'_

'_And you can't because…?'_

'_Because…I'm not going to be around for much longer, Sacha.' _

Within an instant, Sacha had understood what Luc was trying to tell him.

_Promise you'll look after her? Please?'_

'_You know I will, Luc.'_

They sat in silence for a while, both of them trying to get their heads around the situation.

'I'm sorry.' Eddi spoke up, at last.

'Why are you sorry?'

'I'm sorry that you felt you couldn't tell me this before. I'm sorry that you felt you had to run away.'

Luc was so shocked by what he was hearing that he began to laugh.

'What? What are you laughing at?' Eddi suddenly panicked, had this been a joke all along?

'I just can't believe you sometimes.' Luc smiled sadly. 'I'm the one who pushes you away, refuses to tell you my secrets, and then abandons you when you need me most; and yet you think _you're_ the one to blame?'

Eddi closed her eyes, thinking about what Luc had said. She had spent all her life believing that she was a disaster, so eventually that was what she had become. That was why she put on such a bravado, because deep down, she had no belief in Eddi McKee. That was why she had assumed it was something she'd done that had driven Luc away. The realisation that this was not the case was quite a bittersweet moment.

Luc cleared his throat. 'You know the day I left, the day you gave me the keys to your flat?'

Eddi nodded; how could she have forgotten?

'Well, that's when I realised that this couldn't go on. I didn't want you to see me…at the end. I didn't want to put you through that; that wouldn't be fair.' Luc said, leaving out some of what he wanted to say, like how he couldn't stand the idea of Eddi feeling obliged to care for him as he slowly got worse and worse, until she had no life of her own and resented him for it. Letting her hate him for running away was better than that. Something in Eddi's expression, however, told Luc that she knew what he wanted to say, despite his best efforts.

'How long have you got?' She decided to ask the inevitable question.

'About 6 months, give or take.'

'Christ.'

'I know.'

'Will you stay?' Eddi looked into his eyes, wishing she could find the words to tell him that she would look after him, that she would be there until the end, and that there was no way in the world that she could ever resent him.

'If that's what you want.' Luc forced a smile.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

'Hey sleepy.' Eddi smiled as Liam began to open his eyes.

'Where…what happened?' He tried to speak.

'Shh.' Eddi soothed. 'It's okay, you're in Holby…you were stabbed, Liam.'

The memories came flooding back to him all of a sudden, like a nightmare being relived. Liam looked up to find himself in an isolated room in a Holby ward. The walls were plain white, boring and unlikely to encourage optimism in recovering patients, he thought to himself. Eddi was sitting by the bed, smiling in a very guilty looking fashion.

'I'm sorry I didn't answer your calls.' She said, as if she was reading his mind. 'My phone was on silent…' She hung her head in shame.

'It's okay, I'm still alive aren't I?' Liam smiled. He could have sworn he'd seen traces of tears in her eyes.

'What happened, Liam?' She asked. He then proceeded to tell her the whole story, well, most of the story. He decided to omit the part where he went into the subway purely because he wanted to talk to her, so as not to make her feel any worse than she already looked.

'Holy crap. It's a miracle you survived.' She said. 'And you have no idea what their motive was, they just wanted your rucksack?'

'Well, I didn't really get a chance to question them about it.'

'Had you ever seen them before?'

Liam couldn't believe what he was hearing; Was Eddi suggesting that the two thugs were 'friends' of his, meaning that he most have done something to deserve the beating? He said as much to her, in a morphine induced rant.

'Liam, you know that's not what I meant.' She said calmly. She was right, obviously, and Liam suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of guilt for accusing his sister, when she clearly had nothing other than worry for her dear brother on her mind.

'What did you mean when you said "I've been messed about enough" earlier?' He asked, some moments later. Eddi hadn't realised how observant Liam could be, and suddenly realised that she still treated him like a child, even when one of her own pet peeves was patronising people. She didn't give the boy enough credit. She was about to come clean and tell him all about Luc's departure and reappearance, when the man himself walked through the door. Liam's face lit up instantly.

'Ah, here's the man of the hour, all back in one piece I see?' Luc smiled in such a polite and friendly way that Eddi stared at him momentarily confused.

'Yep.' Liam sat up, wincing slightly. 'All good now. How are you Doc?'

'Glad to hear it.' Luc smiled. 'And couldn't be better, thanks.' Eddi shot a sideways glance at him, wondering how much longer she could hold it together. Luc began asking Liam about the incident, and he told him the whole story, almost cheerfully. Eddi was beginning to feel like a bit of a spare wheel, so she decided to go and get some air.

'Eddi!' Sacha spotted her as she exited the room. 'How are you doing?'

'I'm okay.' She lied. 'You did a good job on him didn't you?'

Sacha laughed uneasily. 'It wasn't looking good for a while there, but he pulled through, miraculously.' An awkward silence hung in the air. 'I see the prodigal son has returned?' Sacha gestured in Luc's direction.

'Yeah.' Eddi replied. 'Sacha, I know.'

'Know what?'

'About Luc…why he left. And that you know too.'

'Ah, yes, that.'

'You should have told me, Sacha.'

'Believe me, I wanted to. It's been awful seeing you…how you've been lately.' Sacha tried to be as sensitive as he could. 'But he made me promise, Eddi. It wasn't my secret to tell.'

Eddi had to admit she was impressed by his loyalty, but she was still annoyed.

'Does anyone else know?'

'No, of course not. Unless Luc told anyone else?'

'I doubt it.' Eddi said. 'Let's make sure it stays that way.'

It alarmed Sacha how calmly Eddi was reacting. He concluded that it probably hadn't sunk in, what with the rest of the days trauma. She was about to walk off when Sacha caught her arm.

'Eddi, you know I'm here if you need someone to….' He wasn't sure how to finish that sentence. Talk to? Have a cup of tea with? Be a shoulder to cry on? Sacha couldn't picture Eddi doing any of those things. With the faintest trace of gratitude in her expression, Eddi turned around and smiled weakly.

'I know.'


	13. Chapter 13

**Well this is it; the final chapter! I apologise if this one is a bit weird, it just kind of wrote itself, and I'm not particularly happy with it but anyway..**

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Chapter Thirteen

'_See you at Christmas.' _Liam recalled his words with anger, as if they had jinxed it all. He was even angrier, however, at the fact that Eddi had declined to tell him about all that was going on. After all this time, she still didn't trust him. Liam had doubted that Eddi would ever be able to trust anyone; until he saw the way she cared for Luc. Despite his ever increasing weakness, she seemed to be able to trust him wholeheartedly, perhaps because now she knew that he had made his choice; if he was going to die, it would be by her side. She knew that he believed in her, so in turn, life, rather cruelly, Liam thought, had encouraged her to believe in him.

As for Liam, he was still suffering from flashbacks of that day in the subway. He had been interviewed by the police numerous times, yet they failed to track down the two thugs, despite all of Eddi's fierce demands for justice. It seemed that the vicious pair would continue to randomly terrorize passers by in the streets of Holby. Another harsh reminder that life wasn't fair, Liam thought to himself.

It wasn't long before Luc and Eddi were no longer able to keep their secret from everybody. They soon began to notice Luc's dramatic weight loss and Eddi's tired, sad eyes. No one said anything, but they all knew; it was hard to keep a secret like that in a hospital. About two months after Luc's return he was forced to stop working all together. Eddi had offered to do the same in order to provide full time care for him, but he simply couldn't allow her to give up the job she loved for a man who didn't deserve her, or so he believed. Although, Eddi's working hours had reduced gradually, thanks to Sacha, being the only one who knew the full story, and the eternal romantic who decided that Luc and Eddi needed to spend as much time with each other as possible, while they still could. One night after a particularly bad day, the two of them decided to drink themselves into oblivion, rather stupidly, as the two medical professionals knew well that if there was one thing a person with Hodgkin's disease didn't need, it was alcohol. It was that night that Luc drunkenly asked Eddi to marry him. At first she laughed it off and told him to stop being so stupid, but after listening to his reasoning, she began to change her mind. Luc wanted Eddi to marry him so that she would be protected after he was gone, money wise. She had told him that money was the last thing on her mind, and if he thought that she was doing all this just for selfish monetary gain he was very much mistaken. Luc knew that she was caring for him out of the goodness of her heart and that, even though she was struggling, she didn't give a damn about money anymore. He did, however, feel incredibly guilty about the whole sorry business, and so he wanted to give something back to her, even if that was just a measly old caravan, some blood money and hopefully, one last happy day together. Reluctantly, she agreed, and started wearing the engagement ring that Luc had sent Liam out to buy.

The day of the wedding finally came, which was held in a simple registry office, a few flowers organised by Chantelle brightened up the large, empty room. She had coped much better than anyone had expected her to, due to her notorious tendency to squeal and cry at anything vaguely emotional. She was also the Matron of Honour; the two of them had, unexpectedly, grown very close in the past few weeks, which was a major relief to both Luc and Liam, as they knew that, despite what Eddi said, she could use all the friends she could get. Besides, neither of them were very good at being shoulders to cry on.

Sacha, Chrissie, and Liam and Eddi's mother also attended the wedding. The five hundred pound incident had been forgotten about since Liam had called her and explained the situation. The two hardly spoke to each other on the day, but still, it was important, Liam believed, for Eddi to know that their mother did care about her underneath it all. The day of the wedding was a bizarre one; Liam had never seen two people looking so happy and so sad at the same time. Eddi wore a plain white dress that she bought in a high street store, and Luc could barely walk, but refused on all counts to use a wheelchair. Liam gave Eddi away, which was possibly the most difficult thing he had ever done in his young life, not least because he was still recovering from the stabbing, but he remained strong for Eddi's sake.

Despite the dark cloud that loomed over the day, the wedding party seemed to enjoy themselves, and it seemed that Luc had achieved his last goal of giving Eddi one last day of joy, and ensuring that all his worldly possesions were handed over to her, which gave him great peace of mind as he neared the end.

It was six months after the wedding that the continuous strain of denial and sorrow ended. Luc had died peacefully, in his sleep, at home in his caravan. A few days before hand, he had insisted that he move back into the caravan, probably because he knew the time was near, and also because he was sure that Eddi would probably want to sell it and live in her own flat, so he didn't want his ghost to remain there. Also, it was his home; it had been the only place he had belonged for years, until he met Eddi. She was glad that he had died by her side, because she had been able to see that look of peace finally settle on his face just as his soul slipped away. Eddi had never been a religious type, but that night she prayed for him, because she thought that if anyone deserved to go to heaven, it was him. The funeral was strangely similar to the wedding; in that it was a bizarre, happy/sad occasion. The guests were mostly the same, except for the lack of Liam and Eddi's mother, and the addition of some of Luc's family.

'To Luc.' They toasted at the wake afterwards. Eddi joined in, with tears in her eyes and unsaid words in her heart, yet she found herself smiling; smiling like she hadn't smiled in a long time. Because now she knew that the old, bitter, angry Eddi was gone. Now, thanks to Luc, she was no longer a lonely soul, she was a new person.

She was Mrs Eddi Hemmingway.

**THE END**

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**Thank you to everyone who has read this story, it was my first fanfic and I can't believe the lovely reviews it has got! :D I only wish I could have thought of a better title than 'Lonely Souls'...**

**(And I'm sorry for killing off Luc :/)**

**So...cheers everyone! :)**


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